What was the inspiration behind the creation of the Avantis 2.0 console?
“The Allen & Heath mindset has always been to give users as much power inside the box so that cost and complexity can be reduced while providing the best sounding desks available to the market. Avantis is the ‘bridge’ product between our smaller format consoles and our flagship dLive systems, with live requirements being nearly identical. As shows get more complex, our users need more channels for double-patching, more buses for groups and talkback matrices, and faster ways of navigating the console. Additionally, the very first call I received when RackUltra FX launched for dLive was from an engineer who wanted to know when those features would be available for Avantis. In short, we’re giving the people what they asked for, by improving an already great platform.”
How long did Avantis 2.0 take to come to life, from concept to creation?
“We’ve got a community of users that are always feeding us ideas that we include as part of every release, so development is ongoing. However, certain things needed to be considered from the development of the original console which was released December of 2019. Solo and Avantis consoles were given some internal expansion slots that allow the new hardware upgrades to be fitted, which requires quite a bit of forethought as to how we are going to improve systems during their usable lifespan. Development of the RackUltra FX hardware and software took over four years to complete for dLive, and that work has to be considered part of this process. Additionally, our DSP engineers had countless hours optimising certain algorithms to work within the existing framework. With all this development coming together at once, it became obvious what we would be offering with this release around the time of our last major release in November 2023.”
What features will end users benefit from?
“The release is composed of three major elements; dPack expansion, RackUltra FX, and firmware features which give different benefits to users at every level. dPack is a software upgrade that’s always been available for Avantis and Solo consoles and offers a lot of the processing available to our dLive users in a simple software upgrade.
“With dPack, input channel processing is increased from 64 channels to 96, our configurable buses go from 42 to 54, and we’ve increased the number of Dyn8s (a combination of a multi-band compressor and dynamic EQ) from 16 to 24. ‘More’ is obviously better in this case, and the demand for more configurable buses will benefit users of all kinds by adding more flexible routing possibilities. With RackUltra FX, we’ve added studio-quality reverbs, real-time vocal processing (including a corrective vocal tuner and some harmonisers), as well as some saturation and distortion effects.
“It will require existing Avantis or Solo users to get their consoles upgraded with the required hardware, but the new Ultra versions (which have the dPack and RackUltra FX module fitted at the factory) will give new adopters the ability to obtain everything at once. Having this kind of processing means users can reduce the amount of outboard gear needed on any show, which reduces the overall cost and complexity of any setup, as well as reducing the amount of gear needed.
“As always, we’re adding a bunch of features that are available to any existing user through a firmware upgrade – even if you don’t have the dPack or RackUltra FX upgrade. Our website has the full list, but there are some great workflow enhancements that make navigating the console faster and provide more info at a glance. We’ve added extended channel libraries that make it easy to save a whole channel strip and recall selectable parameters.”
How can sound engineers tailor the surface to benefit their workflow?
“Just like dLive, Avantis has a configurable bus structure which means you can use any of the available buses for groups, auxes, PAFLs, or Mains outputs. With the Avantis 2.0 dPack expansion, that means you could have up to 52 mono Auxes in addition to your PAFL bus if you desired. The ability to add another stereo in-ear mix, or a matrix for a record out gives a lot of flexibility when needs change.
“From a workflow standpoint, Avantis has a ‘liquid’ surface layout; which means you can put any channel or bus on any fader layer. This is essential for optimising workspeed and space, especially on smaller consoles where fader counts are limited. Surface layout can be recalled by scene or from a softkey, as well as any underlying parameters stored to the console via scene recall filters. Theatre users will appreciate our cuelist editor, and corporate users get a 64-channel automatic mic mixer built in. For Avantis 2.0, we’ve added better mapping for selectable parameters to the rotaries to the side of the screen, while the rotaries in the channel strip can be used for a number of different selectable variables, such as gain, pan, or dynamic processing values.”
Where can we expect to see the Avantis 2.0 in the coming months?
“With this upgrade, Solo has become the most powerful self-contained compact mixer in its class, so we expect to see even more adoption into compact touring. There are already a lot of acts flying with Solo, and extra channels, buses, and RackUltra FX package is generating a lot of excitement with rental companies that have had a ‘sneak-preview’. The dual screen Avantis has been popular as a house desk for regional festivals, as well as the industry-standard installation option for performing arts centers and houses of worship. Having built-in vocal tuning was the biggest ask from this group of users – as going outside the desk can be risky.
“If you want to hear stories about ‘who’ and ‘where’ Avantis 2.0 is being adopted, keep an eye on our social media as we share the stories. One of the fun things we did before launch was bring a beta release to the SXSW festival in the US. There were a lot of Avantis and Solo consoles at that festival, so getting the reactions about the upgrades as engineers were introduced to them was a great time.”
In your opinion, what is the most exciting feature of Avantis 2.0?
“I’ve got two standouts that really come to mind. The first has to be the Spaces Reverb Designer that’s part of the RackUltra FX package. The first time I heard a demo, it literally brought tears to my eyes – it’s so good. You can run the Decay time up to infinity and the tails evolve into this beautiful thick sound that must be heard to be believed. The other feature that I love is the Smart Rotaries feature that we’ve added for everyone with Avantis 2.0. It’s contextual control that maps the parameters of whatever processing you are working on to the controls on the right-hand side of each screen. This puts the most important controls for compressors, gates, FX, and PEQs on tactile controls so you can work a lot faster. If you’ve got the dPack upgrade, manipulation of more complex units like the NEQ-12 or the Dyn8 become much easier than ever before.”
Words: Christopher Melendy
Photo: Allen & Heath
